Stardust, Supernovae and the Chirality of the Amino Acids
A mechanism for creating enantiomerism in the amino acids, the building blocks of the proteins, that involves global selection of one chirality by interactions between the amino acids and neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae is described. The selection involves the dependence of the interaction cross sections on the orientations of the spins of the neutrinos and the 14N nuclei in the amino acids, or in precursor molecules, which in turn couple to the molecular chirality. The subsequent chemical evolution and galactic mixing would ultimately populate the Galaxy with the selected species. The resulting amino acids could either be the source thereof on Earth, or could have triggered the chirality that was ultimately achieved for Earth's amino acids.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 1021542
- Report Number(s):
- LLNL-JRNL-474633; TRN: US1104021
- Journal Information:
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 12, n/a, May 31, 2011, pp. 3432, Vol. 12
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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